Evolution?
by daegana616
Summary: Takes up after the movie, what happens with Rogue and how does she move on from Apocalypse?
1. Chapter 1

Evolution

Disclaimer – do not own X-men in anyway whatsoever, if I did I would have made better movies. But this is a story based on X-men evolution, takes up from the end of the show and has some hints of the movies in it.

Anything you don't like blame my Muse (that's what I do anyway)

And please remember to R+R so I know how much you like it!!

E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.

Mutations. They can develop in any person, of any race any colour and any age. Scientists as yet do not know what has caused these mutations or how they develop in people, research has recently begun into the X-gene which is believe to be the cause. Recently the world has seen the rise, and fall, of the most powerful mutant to have ever lived. Sources claim that the mutant was stopped by the actions of one teenage girl, although these are as yet unconfirmed. This station dares to ask the questions in an age of uncertainty, are these mutants to be trusted? Is the mutant who brought about the fall of Apocalypse a threat to the free world? All this and more at 10.

Scott turned off the radio in disgust. "They don't know what they are talking about, it is this type of thing which gives us so much trouble!"

Jean smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek causing him to blush profusely. "You're so sweet when you are in leader mode"

She turned to the two younger people sitting in the back. "Remember no matter what people say or do, just relax and ride it out soon they will know that there is nothing to fear and we can get on with our lives, Scott and I will be back to pick you up after College"

"Yes Mum" Kurt muttered under his breath, but Jean heard anyway and shot him a glare. Stupid psychic Kurt thought, earning him another glare.

"Where is Rogue?" Scott asked suddenly, "Is she walking again?"

Kurt and Kitty shared a glance and said "yes" together hoping that their answer was the correct one.

Once they had been dropped off Kurt and Kitty began walking to their lockers, "um, like do you think they could be right, you know like about Rogue being more powerful than Apocalypse?"

Kurt shook his head, "If zey are zen it is not us who have to fear, Rogue may look scary, but she is as good as you or me"

Kitty nodded, but still seemed unsure. "I hope you are right"

In the park in the centre of Bayville a shadowy figure could be seen walking around. Rogue shuffled her feet through the snow which had begun over the last few days and looked to be settling in for a few more. The upside of which was that she had the park completely to herself, no-one to be hounding her about not going to school, or for doing what she was about to do next.

Stopping at a bench she pulled her gloves off and laid them over the arm of the seat. Her hoody was also removed and dangled so one arm grazed the snow. Rogue shuddered, from cold or something else she was not yet sure. But she revelled in the sense of the wind and chill biting into her arm. Being covered up all the time made her more sensitive to touch.

She began to follow the path around the park, imagining the rest of her friends sitting in class comparing weekend plans, talking about trivial matters. It had been 10 days since the... event, no one at the manor mentioned it around her. The fact that she had faced Apocalypse and...done what to him, she wasn't sure. But people were too scared of bringing it up and what she had done to Mystique.

She expected Kurt to hate her, but he seemed to be being nicer to her because of it. She knew she had lost control but she had just hated Mystique so much, she still couldn't believe that she had killed her. Only to have her come back as one of Apocalypses slaves. Rogue sighed and scooped up a handful of snow, letting it melt under the heat of her hand and drip slowly along her fingers. She knew she should warm them up but it was too much to relieve the sensations of cold biting into her flesh. She knew if any of the x-men could see her now they would get all worried until she put more clothes on. Like she wasn't careful, but there was no one here that she could hurt and she didn't see the harm in having some freedom.

After an hour of wandering around the park, she was definitely beginning to feel the chill eating away at her. She could already see tiny flecks of blue appearing on her fingertips but she refused to warm them with her breath. She decided to head back to her clothes. She approached the bench she had left them on from behind but could not see any evidence of her hoody or her gloves. Rounding to the front of the bench she saw that someone had neatly folded her clothes and laid a cup of star bucks coffee next to the pile.

The old Rogue would have done one of 2 things

Shout and scream, a lot, that she was being followed, and hen kick their arse for being so annoying.

Have a moment of weakness and drink the coffee and show once more that she was not the cold heartless bitch she showed to the rest of the world.

The new Rogue did none of this. She simply turned away and began to long walk back to the Mansion planning on taking a few back routes so no one saw her and thought to ask questions.

At the gate of the mansion Rogue cursed, she could see that Beast and Scot and Jean were at home, College had obviously finished early. This meant they would see her as she came in. In all her semi naked glory. Well semi naked for her, for normal people it was normal, admittedly not in the snow but still...

"Ah guess Ah'll just hafta break in" she muttered turning to find a climbable section of the wall. This she found with ease and after a small struggle heaved herself up and onto the top of the wall. She sat there until the languid semicircle journey of the camera began to take it away from her. Then she leapt off the wall and after finding her balance began a low sprint for the side of the mansion with her room. She had no worries about the Professor picking up on her thoughts as he was in Washington with Storm campaigning for mutant rights. And Logan had taken off shortly after the defeat of Apocalypse after getting an insight into his past. Rogue did not mind him being gone, she knew that he had a right to know where he had come from. But she did miss him, he was the closest she had ever gotten to a father, and although he was a little rough around the edges he did genuinely care for her.

She thought back to the moment that she had been left sitting on the floor of that plane, the day in the mountains and he had stepped up to her and gruffly asked.

"So what' it gonna be us or them?"

She had responded with some form of wit, "If Ah don't say ya'll am ah gonna get thrown off the plane?" Or something, Logan had smiled and given her his hand. It was not until later she learnt the symbolism behind that gesture. She was under his protection, and everyone at the manor knew it.

Soon she had arrived at the solid brick wall of the mansion itself. Fortunately for her there was a tree growing just about level with the bottom of her balcony. So it was a simple task to climb up to the second branch and then leap for her balcony.

However in her haste she caught her leg on a loose piece of mortar. This gouged into her leg, deep enough to draw bloody but not deep enough to cause too much damage. Wincing through the pain she heaved herself up the rest of the way and managed to get from the balcony to her bed before collapsing from exhaustion.

"Whoa gal! Ya must be in worse shape than ya thought" She muttered before falling into a dreamless sleep. The pounding from her leg and head seeming to beat a tattoo on the inside of her skull, "alive, alive, alive, alive"

E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.

Thanks for reading and please R+R!! XD

XXX

Deagana616 (powers: projection and flight)


	2. Chapter 2

Heya dudes and dudettes! Hopes you liked the first chappie, here is the next. I am just trying to get a feel for the story so bear with me it will get better...right? ;)

Keep R+Ring as I like to know how my audience finds it!

E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.

Rogue thought that the X-men didn't see her; she thought that they didn't care. After Apocalypse rose she thought that they blamed her. Who wouldn't? She had brought about the return of the most destructive being in existence. The fact that she had defeated him was no comfort; leech had done all the work, he was just too young to go to war. It was all the fault of her poison skin. The X-men hated it, she could see them flinching when she got too close. Even Kitty.

Especially after the event with Mystique. She knew Kurt still could not properly look her in the eye, the only reason he was still speaking to her was because Mystique was still breathing. Logan was normally there for her, but with him and the professor gone they left her alone. Not that she cared; it would make leaving all the simpler.

However Rogue was wrong about one thing. The X-men did not fear her, they feared for her.

Dr Hank McCoy was tending to his lab when the security system bleeped; a foreign object had entered the lands. Should he initiate lockdown?

"Hmm" He muttered as he scanned the cameras looking for the intruder. As soon as he saw who the trespasser was he turned the system off, but stayed to watch the Southern Goth's progress across the grounds. He saw her catch her leg on the stone around the balcony and vowed to get the masonry fixed as it was obviously a hazard.

What stood out to him was her attire. He knew Rogue, she was very careful of her skin. And the few times that accidents had happened she took responsibility even when she did not have to. He frowned troubled; he could recall the conversation he had had with the professor and Wolverine before they had both left.

"I think Rogue would benefit from speaking to a professional, who knows the side effects of having your mind ripped apart telepathically!"

Wolverines claws had popped out with a silken snickt

"You wanna have some psych poking around in stripes head? 'He would do more harm than good"

"Logan see sense, she could lose control again, she may not be able to come back to us a second time. It could not hurt to try"

"And you think that the way to help her is to send her to a doctor? She will think we think she is mad!"

"But-"

"No the matter is closed, Stripes is fine I guarantee it"

"Logan" The professor spoke up, "Rogue, although it may often appear otherwise, is not you. She may need some help recovering, but this will have to wait until we get back as I cannot afford to delay any longer. The situation in Washington is becoming quite severe."

So that had been the end of that. But Hank decided to call the Professor with his concerns as soon as he finished his work for the day.

E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.

"I like totally call shotgun!" Kitty yelled

"Nein Kitty it is mine"

"STOP"

Both Kitty and Kurt found themselves unable to move. Jean walked past them and smirked, "Shotgun" She murmured before sliding into the seat next to Scott.

Kurt glared at the back of her head and began thinking rude thoughts taking great pleasure in seeing Jean wince in disgust.

Kitty sat staring out of the window scowling. Kurt leaned over and poked her in the ribs; she turned her death glare on him so he looked away innocently. The resulting poke war (yes they exist outside of facebook!) only ended when Scott turned round,

"Rogue walking again?"

"Um yeah" Kitty supplied quickly, hoping Rogue would have enough sense to be home already.

Kurt flashed her a quick smile and the poke war began anew, they only stopped when they reached the gates of the Mansion.

"See yas" Called Kurt grabbing Kitty and porting to just outside Rogue and Kitty's room.

"Now to check our story", muttered Kitty and pushed the door ajar. They could both see Rogue lying asleep face down on her bed. Fully dressed. Kitty began running towards her friend but before she had even gotten half way across the room she found herself facing the corridor of the mansion again.

"Like why did you do that? She, like, totally needs our help!"

"Yes, but you and I both know that vhen Rogue vants our help she vill ask for it, not before"

Kitty nodded slowly, Kurt draped an arm around her and began leading her away. "Now I think zat ve should go and find out if zere is anything good to eat around here before I starve! Ve have a danger room session in 3 hours"

Kitty laughed and phased through the floor, "See you in the kitchen fuzzy man!" Kurt grinned and ported down to the kitchen. However in his haste he arrived actually inside the fridge! Before he could even port out of there Kitty flung the door open and stared at him for 5 seconds before she brought her phone up and snapped a picture of him.

"Ha that will serve you right for being so greedy!"

Kurt grinned and grabbed the tube of Ketchup and began spraying it at Kitty. However only half of it actually managed to land on her as his aim was awful and she was able to phase the rest through her body.

E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.

"Scott you and I both know that Rogue wasn't at school, again" Miss Perfect, I mean Jean, said

"Duh!" Very unleader like

"So what are you planning on doing about it?"

"The Prof said to do nothing until he got back..."

"Yes but you are the leader, you get a say in what goes on with its members, even he understands that. No-one will question your authority."

"But Wolverine-"

"Is thousands of miles away trying to find himself. He left Rogue remember, you can start by finding out her real name; I am fed up of calling her by her codename all the time"

Scott seemed to be mulling it over,

"She does seem like she needs a helping hand"

"And she is much too stubborn to ask for it" Jean supplied helpfully

"But she may resent me for it"

"She already resents everyone as it is, you may as well take it away from other people"

Scott threw up his hands in resignation, "fine, how do you propose we go about this?"

E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.

Not my best but I felt the other characters needed a bit of talk time. Lots of Rogue in next chappie and some more on her mysterious stalker...

R+R+R+R+R+R+R+R+R+R+R+r+R+R+R pls!!

XXX


	3. Chapter 3

Right last chapter before exams begin enjoy! XD

Pls R+R at the end :D

E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.

Rogue rose late for her the next day. Her clock read 10:05 by the time her eyes finally opened and stayed that way. Making her way down to the kitchen she could hear the sounds of X-men getting ready for a busy fun filled Saturday. With Wolverine gone they did not have Danger Room sessions as frequently so could have more free time. She turned away not wanting to face the inevitable stares. As it was a Saturday she decided that no one would miss her for a few hours. Stopping at her room to throw on a pair of dark blue jeans, her trusty gloves and a new hoody she grabbed her purse and went for the door.

Before she could get out, she heard the sounds of Kurt and Kitty making their way back to the room; she turned abruptly and began heading for the balcony. "If Ah can brahke in then Ah can brahke out!" She thought as she leapt for the tree and quickly shimmied down it feeling her leg twinge in protest as the healing flesh was stretched by the movement. "Ah mean it ain't lahke their gonna notice Ah'm gone.."

Once she had reached the safety outside the mansions walls she got out her purse and counted. She had 45 to last her until the end of the month, which fortunately for her was only a week away. As one of the abandoned children she relied completely on the professor for funds, and although he was more than generous, she was worse off financially than some of the other x kids. Deciding that her first port of call should be to calm her growling stomach, she began trudging to town, her feet sending power snow flurrying into the air.

Unbeknownst to Rogue she was being watched by three pairs of eyes as she began her trek. The first were brown and matched the owners long brown ponytail. The second appeared brown as well but were actually a vibrant yellow, all the better for seeing with. Finally the last pair of eyes watched the first two pairs. All three set off after Rogue, although the last pair determined to do a much better job of staying hidden than the first pair.

Rogue finally left starbucks after gaining an injection of caffeine and a decent breakfast. She looked around for a bin to put her empty sandwich bag into but could not see one. Shrugging lightly she simply scrunched the paper bag and tossed it into a nearby gutting figuring that no-one would really notice. The snow had doubled overnight so few people were out and about. This meant Rogues followers had to do a much better job of hiding in case Rogue spotted them. Kitty kept running 

through shop walls and peeking her head out so the depressive Goth wouldn't notice her entourage. Her third stalker simply had to follow the clumsy wannabes, he would have no problem following the target.

Rogue decided to head back to the park she had been in yesterday. She might be able to spend the whole day there without being seen by another human if she was lucky. She pulled her iPod out of her pocket and turned it to HIM. Settling against a tree she turned the volume up to max and let the music wash over her.

After 10 minutes of this she tugged irritably at her hoody, she wanted to feel the cold against her skin, and the snow on the ground was melting through her trousers so she set her hoody as a cushion and resumed her music listening. It was at this point the Kurt and Kitty decided to leave, Kurt no longer felt comfortable watching his sister all alone, and Kitty was getting cold,

"She is like totally fine, she did that before Apocalypse" Kitty insisted, "She isn't going to have a total meltdown, she's like, made of stronger stuff!"

Kurt wasn't so sure, because he had been abandoned he had never been raised by Mystique, and although not her blood daughter Rogue had been brought up by the blue skinned shape shifter. She had been brought up for one thing and one thing alone, her powers. Kurt did not know how betrayal like that felt but he had a good idea, and then with everything that had happened he did not blame Rogue for her rage at Mystique. He himself had told Mystique to get lost when she had recovered from Apocalypses mind control. But he still worried about his adopted sister and her state of mind.

When the light began to fade Rogue got up and grabbed her sodden hoody she draped it across her shoulders so that the arms fell down covering her skin slightly. She headed for a nearby pub that she knew some of the bouncers would let her into. Fortunately on the door tonight was Ned, Southern charm worked its magic and got her inside. She settled herself into a corner and ordered a beer.

Once her beer had been finished and her hoody partly dried she pulled it on and headed back for the mansion. She decided to take a few short cuts to get back in time for dinner, that way it would not look suspicious that she had been out all day. She had just turned into the second shortcut, an alley behind the local Wal-Mart. When a man stepped out in front of her.

"Well, well, well, lookie here boys we got ourselves a little mutie X-freak"

Rogue turned meaning to head in the other direction but another man was behind her,

"What are the gloves for mutie" he sneered

"Ah dunno what ya'll are talking about" She said trying to keep calm

"Like Hell!" that was first voice

"We can tell your lot a mile off" Second voice

"And we don't like you all coming into our town, we gonna make ya pay for being a freak" this was a new voice, Rogue could make out four or five other shapes moving around; she slowly lowered her body into a fighting crouch, remembering all those sessions in the danger room.

She managed to dodge the first couple of punches, and got in a few good hits herself, before she was grabbed from behind. The man behind her held her fast no matter how she bucked or kicked. First voice came closer and reached out a bare hand to her face.

"Such a pretty little freak aren't we" Rogues eyes widened in shock and she tried not to scream

"Don't touch meh!" She managed to choke out; there must have been something in her voice because first voice stopped. She did not want to have anyone in her head ever again; not when she had finally gotten rid of the voices.

"Ah so you are the untouchable, good to know, boys have some fun" Rogue managed to hold onto one thought as the beating began. They knew who she was.

The beating was brutal, punches and kicks came from all directions. Eventually the man behind her let go and she sank to the floor coiling into a ball to try and ride it out. She drifted in and out of consciousness thinking she could hear the sounds of the x-team coming to her rescue. Someone grabbed her shoulder but she jerked the hand off. The hand grabbed her and turned her over, not unkindly. All she could see was a faint reddish glow, "Scott" she mumbled before the moving black at the corners of her vision rushed in to claim her.

E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.

Hope you liked pls R+R!!


	4. Chapter 4

SORRY! For taking so long but first I had exams, (which I aced by the way and am now off to Exeter!)

Then I had a family holiday, but am now back and writing for your pleasure!!

Xx

E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.

_The beating was brutal, punches and kicks came from all directions. Eventually the man behind her let go and she sank to the floor coiling into a ball to try and ride it out. She drifted in and out of consciousness thinking she could hear the sounds of the x-team coming to her rescue. Someone grabbed her shoulder but she jerked the hand off. The hand grabbed her and turned her over, not unkindly. All she could see was a faint reddish glow, "Scott" she mumbled before the moving black at the corners of her vision rushed in to claim her._

Rogue woke up to a pounding headache. Her first thought was that she had gotten drunk again, a couple of nights ago she had managed to buy a bottle of tequila and had drained the contents before spending the next day hiding in shadows waiting for her head to stop spinning. She kept her eyes closed and tried to replay the last day in her head, she could remember wandering around the park and then... nothing. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and winced as pain spread across her chest. She brought her hand up to guard against the pain and tentatively pressed her fingers against her ribs, instantly white hot pain blossomed across her chest radiating from her fingers.

She opened her eyes cautiously and her worst suspicions were confirmed when a bland white ceiling met her gaze. She turned her head, wincing slightly at the shooting pain that sent up her neck and noticed she was in a white room with hospital equipment lining one wall. Then it hit her she was lying in the medical bay of the mansion. She mentally cursed herself for not recognising it sooner; she had spent enough time there.

She cautiously reached down and felt that she had been changed into a hospital gown, which meant she must have been injured somehow; no-one could risk exposure like that normally. Her reverie was interrupted by Hank coming into the room in his white lab coat. His face lit up when he noticed that she was awake.

"Good morning my dear, and how are we feeling today?"

Rogue just looked at him, her brain hadn't quite caught up with recent events.

"You have suffered several bruised and broken ribs so don't try to breathe too heavily; also you dislocated your shoulder, but that should heal quite easily. Finally you received several blows to the head and managed to split your head, don't worry" he hastily added "I have glued that back together and it should be fine, all in all you were very lucky"

Rogue almost laughed, Lucky? She had been beaten to quite literally a pulp!

"Do you remember what happened?"

Rogue just looked she didn't have the energy to speak let alone shake her head.

"Very well, I shall endeavour to enlighten you. We found you in the alley behind Wall-mart, it seems as if a group called 'Friends of Humanity' have been watching the mansion for some time and decided to step up their terrorist activities"

He paused as if to wait for Rogue to respond, after a few seconds of her staring back at him he continued.

"By the time we arrived you had been quite badly beaten up, but somehow managed to take out a few of their members. Do you remember?"

Nothing

He sighed, "Rogue you have to talk to someone, just nod or something to let me know you are ok?"

Nothing

"Do you want to see Kitty or Kurt?"

Nothing

"Fine I'll send them in"

AS he left Rogue turned her head to the other wall. She didn't know why but she couldn't get her voice to work, she just didn't want to speak. She opened her mouth and tried to say something, nothing. Her voice had deserted her.

She heard the pneumatic hiss as Kitty and Kurt made their way into the room.

"Er Rogue?" that was Kitty, she sounded upset.

"We're like sorry" Sorry? What were they sorry for?

"We followed you yesterday, but like we totally left until you didn't come back for dinner so we went out to find you, and we followed you from the bar to the alley"

The bar? Oh yeah she had gone for a drink and then... wait hadn't hank mentioned something about an alley? She could remember the men ambushing her. Then she realised Kitty was still talking.

"I sent Kurt back to the mansion for help and was about to help you when something knocked me out! I'm so sorry"

Now she really was crying, Rogue felt bad but still studied the wall, they had been following her, no one trusted her enough to just leave her alone. Scott had probably asked them to keep an eye on her to prevent her doing any damage to herself or anyone else. He couldn't risk the image of his precious team.

She was jolted out of her reverie by Kurt placing a three fingered hand on her shoulder, "Rogue? Are you alright?"

She managed to will her muscles into life to nod her head, just once and barely perceptibly but Kurt seemed to notice as she felt his hand relax.

"Good, do you remember what happened? Kitty says that there were about 6 guys, by the time we got back there were only three and they were knocked out. We left them at the hospital, so they are alright" Typical Kurt they had beaten her up yet he was concerned that her attackers were going to make a full recovery.

Had she beaten them up? She couldn't remember being given a chance to land more than a few punches, which left either she had managed to land more than she thought or she had been rescued by someone. She didn't like the idea of needing to be rescued it meant she was weak. She couldn't take on other mutants easily because of her powers and now she was having trouble taking on mere humans!

She thought she heard them say more but her pounding head was making her dizzy and soon she was falling into a deep sleep. The only thought she was able to hold onto was that she had been beaten, the Rogue was not as unstoppable as everyone thought, well that was going to change.

E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.

"Kitty I am vorried, Rogue has gotten even more depressed, should ve talk to a teacher about it?" Kurt began as soon as they had left the room, seeing his sister lying there with bruises and bits of blood on her face had scared him. Especially seeing as she hadn't even managed to say a word to either of them.

"We should totally talk to Dr McCoy he is really down to earth and will know what to do" Kitty said wiping a stray tear from her eye. Although her and Rogue made an unlikely pair, she still thought of them as really close friends. It worried her to see her in such pain.

They eventually found the doctor in his lab looking at some medical charts.

"And how can I entertain such lively young minds today?" He asked beaming like they were the highlight of his day

"We like wanted to talk to you about Rogue" Kitty began and looked at Kurt for support

"Ve are vorried that she may be depressed, she vouldn't talk to either vone of us"

To their surprise the doctor nodded sadly, "I was afraid something like this would happen. Rogue has very severe depression and the fight only made it worse, however with the Professor acting as 'loco parentis' we cannot do anything until he returns; so long as she remains in a state where she won't hurt herself all that I can suggest is that we try to keep her spirits up and keep a close eye on her in order to see any changes to her behaviour. Although she cannot know we are treating her any different, Rogue has a lot of pride and will not like to think of herself as weak or any different than the rest of us.

Kitty smiled and left while Kurt stayed behind, Hank noticed that he seemed nervous, "anything else troubling you?" He asked kindly

Kurt grimaced, "I vas vondering, could Apocalypse have made any lasting impressions of mien sisters mind? She was under the control of Mesmero for a while."

Hank smiled and shook his head, "the Professor checked, her mind is, although jumbled, very much intact you do not have anything to worry about. Incidentally, I have uncovered a tablet from the tomb of apocalypse that I hope will shed some light on this mysterious mutant and how he came to life for so long. He also seemed to have a similar power to Rogues that was in a stronger form as it overrode hers as if it did not exist. Remarkable"

Kurt smiled and edged out of the room knowing a lecture was imminent.

E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N...E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.

Sorry it took so long, hope you liked :D

Pls R+R!

Xxx

Daegana


	5. Chapter 5

E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.

Sorry if this seems a bit random, but this piece just came to me, I may edit it later but I quite like it at the moment. Please R+R!

Xx

E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.

Rogue was finally released a week later, but instructed that she could not leave the mansion without an escort in case the people who attacked her came back. In all that time she still had not said a word, nor communicated with anyone beyond a simple nod or shake of her head. She could tell that everyone was trying to get her to speak in some way or another. The first time she emerged for breakfast people kept trying to initiate conversation with her; once that had been exhausted Jamie had 'accidently' spilt the milk so that it ran over her legs. She had not even moved to brush it off simply kept eating her cereal.

Kitty had tried each night to begin a conversation about anything, once she had even gone through her CD collection asking if she wanted to go and see any of the bands. She immediately trailed off remembering what happened the last time.

That conversation had got Rogue thinking about her place in the world. She was sat on her bed while everyone else was mucking about in the rec room downstairs, she didn't feel like joining the main group much anymore; she had used to like sitting on the sidelines watching life going on about her but now that had lost its thrill for her.

She had come to the conclusion that she was a vessel, simply that. Her purpose in life was to be filled and used. She had been being used since she could remember. Firstly by Destiny and Mystique, though their eventual purpose for her she had no idea, then by Xavier to promote his message, he may not see it that way; but everything looked a lot less idealistic in black and white. Then there had been Magneto and the Brotherhood, his whole Asteroid M plan had not been uniquely devised with her in mind, quite the opposite, but she had been used like every other mutant. She sighed and also added Gambit, as much as it pained her to admit it, to the list. Although his intentions had been; in a warped way, good he had used her just like everyone else.

Finally that left Apocalypse, he and his little lap dog Mesmero had used her to get him back from the dead, he had controlled her into hurting everyone around her, both friends and enemies and finally had left her with the psyches forcibly ripped from her mind. To make it worse she was used to save 

the world, but only because Leech was too small to be involved in such a dangerous battle. The comment of Kitty's had stung the most, "the girl who shut herself off from the world just saved it". She had announced it in that preppy voice of hers that endeavoured to make the world a nice shade of pink. She hadn't saved the world Leech had, all she had done was use his powers; all she ever did was use other peoples powers.

She ripped off her glove savagely and threw it away, she glared at her hand, it looked nothing out of the ordinary, manicured fingers attached to a hand with smooth pale skin, made smoother from years of wearing gloves. Nothing to hint that with a touch she could kill another human being, take their essence and make it her own. She felt tears creep to her eyes and banished them, she wasn't going to cry, she took a deep breath and felt her ribs explode as pain continued to wrack her body. This time she braced herself and prevented the wince, she was not going to be a vessel anymore. No one else was going to use her, she was going to be better faster and stronger, powers be damned.

She went to find her glove and set off in the direction of the danger room. She could still feel the pain but that only made her more determined, if she could manage through the pain she would be more capable when she was healthy. The pain was a tool that she could use. She just had to prevent anyone else from finding out what she was doing. Scott was still floating around obviously looking to have a 'chat', she didn't care he could play leader all he wanted; she knew she was a hindrance to the team more often than not; she was only of use when she could use another mutants powers. She never wanted to have the feeling of another person running around in her head not if she could help it.

E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.

That night she began a gruelling regime, she would wait until the mansion was asleep and set off for the danger room. She had once persuaded Wolverine to show her the access codes to the danger room in case she needed the extra practice, though she was sure he had never thought she would use it this often. After a few tries she even found out how to turn the safety's off, not that she was looking to get hurt, she just wanted a more real setting rather than fake lasers and discs that at best gave you a small bruise.

All she had to do was ensure she set off no cameras and reset the danger room before morning, once she was nearly caught as Kitty got up in the night for some cookies and milk, but she didn't notice the lumpy pillows piled up in Rogues bed. Sometimes she pushed herself too hard and collapsed on the floor so she had taken to setting an alarm in her watch that would ensure she woke up before anyone noticed. She didn't think that she was doing anything wrong per say, but she didn't want anyone pushing their noses into her business. This was her life and she was living it how she chose and if she got hurt in the process that was her problem.

E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.

Hope you enjoy, please R+R soon!


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry about the delay, internet problems, you would have thought that universities would be able to get it right. Anyways :D hope you enjoy this little nugget of a chappie, took me ages to get it the way I wanted it.

As always love my faithful reviewers and readers ;) Keep it up and so will I!!

XXX

E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N......E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N......E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N......E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N......E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.

Rogue lightly touched the bruise that spanned the entirety of her right cheek stretching from the corner of her mouth to the edge of her eye. She had been training when the simulation had taken a nasty turn landing her in an ambush. She had unwittingly run one of Wolverines programmes. She had been hit on other parts of her body but this was the first injury that she had gotten on a piece of visible skin. She sighed and reached for her foundation, she just hoped that she would be able to cover it up so no one would get worried that she had been in another fight.

She was just putting the finishing touches of eye liner on when there was a loud banging on the door, causing her to jump and smudge just under her eye.

"Rogue hurry up I am going to be late!" came Jeans shrill voice. Rogue involuntarily winced; Jean had been watching her like a hawk for the past few weeks, for what she didn't know. But she was getting sick of it. As soon as her voice came back she was going to have a few words with Miss Perfect.

Jean banged on the door again and Rogue slammed her hand down on the counter in response, only to wince again as pain flooded her hand. Looking down she had slammed her hand directly down onto Scott's razor, the edge had sliced a sizeable strip of skin and blood was already leaking out. She had never realised that hands could bleed so much, she stopped to grab some tissue and mopped up the blood on the counter, then chucked the razor and the tissues in the bin. Scott wouldn't want to use a bloody razor and she was sure he had spares. Then clasping a tissue to her bleeding hand she double checked her make-up. To her relief the bruise was not noticeable unless you looked really closely, Jean banged again and Rogue felt the familiar pressure as she attempted to speak via Rogue's mind. Rogue didn't even try to block her out. Ever since Apocalypse she had had barriers erected around her mind. Must have been some kind of self-defence mechanism. But no telepath could get through it, or so the Professor had said, without her permission.

She finally left feeling Jean's eyes on her as she pushed her way past the small queue and went to collect her book bags. Scott had insisted on driving her to school every day since she had been deemed healthy. She hated being back at school, and was contemplating skipping again, except that the school had insisted that they would not hesitate to expel her if she missed any more days. So the entire X-team had insisted that she return.

Jean drove the others while Scott drove her, as always he attempted to begin a conversation in any way and as always she just stared out the window. Knowing he would get tired of it before she did. She knew that Hank wanted to get her to talk to a shrink, and she knew that he would never stoop to actually forcing her to do anything, so until the Professor got back from his crusading she was stuck in limbo, without a voice.

The day dragged by, Hanks note got her out of having to answer questions in class so she simply sat at the back doodling in the back of her notebook. She knew she attracted more stares than the rest of the X-team because no one in school actually knew what her power was. Rumours circulated about why she wore the gloves, the most accurate being that she was a vampire who could suck blood through skin to skin contact. She didn't mind, it helped keep people away from her skin, she had successfully gone through the last few weeks without absorbing anyone. Her head felt blissfully clear without the remnants of people's psyches running around in there.

Not soon enough it was lunch time, she grabbed the first food that she could find and began to make her way to the door. She preferred to eat her lunch away from prying eyes, somewhere she could sit in solitude. However on her way out a tall blonde girl in her year, a preppy girl from Tennessee called Brianna and her friend, whose name temporarily escaped her, "accidently" crashed into her, covering her top in chunks of chips and cheese. Rogue didn't even look up just stared at the yellow pieces attached to her top.

"Watch where you're going freak!" Brianna announced in a loud voice, immediately attracting the attention of everyone in the canteen.

Rogue just stood there taking it. There was no doubt that she could take either of these girls in a fight, but she just didn't care, and she was useless at bitch fights without a voice. Mentally she asked her voice box to resume prior services hoping it would work.

"Aw, I wonder if she's gonna cry?" Brianna sneered

"Hmm, what's the matter freak? Mutant cat got your tongue?" Her friend piped up again, enjoying her role as bitchy sidekick.

Rogue looked up at that and opened her mouth to speak, hopefully, when Kitty stepped to her defence. "Like what is your problem? She was just trying to eat her lunch!" The valley girl stood with the rest of the X-men who were still in school holding a tray of food.

Kurt soon followed "Leave her alone, she didn't even do anything!"

Brianna snorted, "She didn't have to, and we don't want any of you freaks here, from now on you're not welcome in the canteen, any of you."

Both turned to go back to their table of friends but Brianna stopped for a moment before turning back to Rogue. "Just to make sure our message sinks in" she smirked before throwing her coke all over Rogues face.

Rogue blinked a couple of times before wiping the substance out of her streaming eyes. She turned meaning to go to the bathroom to get the rest off and to clean her top up, but stopped at the look of horror on Kitty's face. She realised that she must have wiped her makeup off as well unwittingly revealing her bruised face to the world.

"Rogue like what happened?" Kitty asked

"Vas it zose men? Did zey come back?" Kurt asked

Rogue could see the other members of the team peering at her curiously. She froze not knowing what to do, and then she heard Amara lean over and whisper something to Bobby unfortunately she didn't whisper as quietly as she thought so Rogue heard clearly.

"She probably did it herself, I heard Jean telling Hank that she found bloody tissues and a razor in the bin this morning, Rogue must be self harming."

Rogue felt rage grip her, Jean had been snooping around after her! She clenched her fists into balls and tried to count to ten before,

"Rogue is this like true?" this was Kitty, Kitty! She doubted her, Rogue knew that they were never bosom friends but she had thought that they were close.

She looked up eyes flashing in anger, the rest of the canteen, bar the X-men, took a step back afraid of what the "crazy mutant" was going to do now.

Kurt decided to placate her, he spread his arms wide, "look if you haff a problem ve can help ve are you family"

That did nothing to help her mood; they actually thought she would do something as stupid as self harm? And if she had she would have a done a much better job of hiding it.

Suddenly she was fed up, of all the subtle looks, of all the comments made when they thought she wasn't around. And especially of people feeling sorry for her, she was done feeling sorry for herself wasn't that enough? So she did the only thing she could think of.

She ran.

It was her tried and tested method, she had learnt it from the best, and so she put it to good use. The X-men parted like the red sea around her, they were too scared of her skin to reach out and touch her. Kurt and Kitty too stunned to do anything.

As she cleared the school doors she was sure she heard Kitty yell for Kurt to follow her, but there was no familiar 'bamf' or smell of brimstone so she kept going. She kept running until her lungs began to scream in protest and she was forced to rest against a nearby wall.

It was then that she took stock of her surroundings; this was an area of Bayville she rarely visited, the industrial section, the only buildings around were warehouses and factories, somewhere she could rest in peace for a few hours.

She sat on the cold floor panting. She could hear the sound of her communicator ringing on her wrist; angrily she pushed the reject button and wrenched it off her wrist before throwing the thing away. She would return but on her own terms.

She was startled out of her angry reverie by the sounds of approaching footsteps. She leapt to her feet and looked around, assuming that it would be workers of some description. She shrank back into the shadows and watched as a group of men walked into the space between three warehouses, their leader looked familiar but she couldn't place him.

The men appeared to be looking for something and spread out over the area. Rogue began to get nervous; she thought that she recognised the leader now. He seemed very familiar to the leader of the group of thugs who had attacked her outside the Wall-mart. Her suspicions were confirmed when the man suddenly looked in her direction and checked a remote held in his hand. He began pointing in her direction and the men swarmed completely surrounding her.

"Hello again" the man announced coldly.

"Thought we had forgotten about you? Thought we would leave you alone now? One man grabbed her arms, and the leader walked closer, "Rogue, our boss is very, interested, in your case, and he believes that given time he could find a use for your; talents."

Rogue spat in his face.

"Your friend isn't here to protect you this time, I would be careful if I were you" the man snarled slapping her across the face with a gloved hand.

Rogue inwardly groaned; gloves! These guys were definitely prepared for her, and worse they now knew her name who were they? She glared at the man and began weighing her options, there were 10 of them and only 1 of her, not great odds. And she had thrown her communicator away.

The man holding her was not holding her too tightly assuming she wasn't going to move, she dropped allowing her body to become as heavy as it could until she was effectively a dead weight. As the man fell with her she twisted pushing him over her head and onto the ground in front of the leader.

She smirked and dropped into a crouch looking for a gap in the circle, thinking it would be safer to make a break for it before they could overpower her. The men were all the rough size and shape as Wolverine and looked like they had been in more than one bar brawl. But that may be where she got her advantage, where they were inexperienced she had been practising for weeks against bigger stronger opponents. She was small and quick where they were big and slow, or so she hoped.

As one swung at her she ducked low and hit high effectively knocking all the air out of his stomach. She then used him momentum to throw him into two other men on the other side. One stayed down having caught his head on the side of a building.

"1 down" she thought briefly before two leapt for her. Like something out of a cartoon she sidestepped and the knocked heads, she would have laughed had it not been so serious. The remaining looked pissed; the leader had drawn out some sort of gun and was currently aiming it at her.

She leapt just as he fired so the round caught her leg. Looking down she saw that it was some sort of dart, probably containing some sort of sleep inducing drug. Wrenching it out her suspicions were confirmed as her vision blurred briefly and she saw the men grinning. She struggled to stay awake and began shaking her head to clear it.

The nearest man reached out to grab her but was thrown backwards by a small explosion in his chest. Rogue thought she must be hallucinating as she watched the men all fly backwards in slow motion from unseen explosions. Light and sound seemed to be proving a challenge as her ears were filled with a dull ringing.

Slowly time sped up and her head began to clear. She presumed that she hadn't got a large enough dose of the drug to completely knock her out. Briefly she wondered what had happened, all the men were lying around her knocked out. Something had attacked them, or someone. A phrase used by the man who had shot her ran around and around in her head _"Your friend isn't here to protect you this time"_

"_Your friend"_

"_This time"_

"_Your friend"_

Rogue slowly turned to face her saviour knowing already who would be standing there. Leaning nonchalantly against a far wall, arrogantly shuffling his cards and smirking was Gambit.

"Bonjour cherie"

E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N......E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N......E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N......E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N......E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.

Like hate? R+R

Daegana

XXX


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